Gruek
Gruek is a Skakdi and former prisoner of The Pit. History Ahpolki Inika's continuity Early History Like the majority of his kind, he was created by Mata Nui in the early years of the Matoran Universe. His kind were stationed on Zakaz and tasked with the recycling of waste, with Gruek himself running a scrapyard. 75,000 years ago, Makuta Spiriah appeared on his island, with the intent of turning the natives into foot-soldiers. To that end, he began conducting experiments on them, Gruek included. Hoping that the species's newfound powers would grow , Spiriah left the land and placed a small army of Visorak to monitor them. However, the alternations made the Skakdi violent and unstable. Gruek suddenly got the idea to scrounge up the scrap and forge automated defenses out of them. Turrets would open fire on anyone that ventured too close, with automatons patrolling the scrapyard for more trespassers. By the time Spiriah returned, The Skakdi have more or less entered an all-out civil war with each other. The engineer himself stayed out of the conflict, content with his lifestyle. Knowing that his fellow Makuta would execute him for his failures, Spiriah went into hiding. Like the Skakdi populace, Gruek would develop a distaste for the Makuta species afterwords for their part in their descent into chaos. Centuries later, a platoon of other Skakdi managed to disable his automatons and destroy his sentries. Claiming his scrapyard as part of their territory, they dragged him back to their warlord, Nektann. Rather than execute him, Nektann saw use in him. He mentioned how his men would scavenge the wreckage of airships that the island shot down, and wondered if the mad engineer could forge something from the scrap piles. Eager to continue his passion for tinkering, Gruek agreed. He serve as Nektann's weapons engineer from that point on. Though he initially enjoyed his occupation, he began to grow bored with his position as millennia of constant warfare marched by. Then he was approached one of Nektann's soldiers, going by the name of Nixot. He claimed to have grown tired of the conflict as well, and wished to see the outside world. Though he was initially wiry of the proposal, the warrior was able to convince him after speculating the types of technology other societies possessed within earshot. Intrigued by the suggestion, he accepted his invitation and proposed that they construct a motor-boat for their departure. Over the next few years, they would dedicate some of their resources to building the vessel. Though Nektann discovered the project early one, Gruek covered up their plan by claiming that the boat was designed for aquatic warfare. Interested, Nektann granted them more materials for constructing it, under the condition that the engineer would give the blueprints to his men upon completion. Though he was thankful of these gifts, he suspected that his true intentions was to monitor them. He also began to express doubts about his partner-in-crime, Noxit. His theories came to fruition after completion of the ship, where Nektann's soldiers stormed the hanger and found a large collection of treasure within the vessel. Noxit slew the investigators with a blast of his Caustic Vision and hijacked the boat in response. Furious at his betrayal and theft of his work, Gruek rushed to the Tahtorak pins and stole one to give chase. Racing to the edge of Zakaz's shore, Gruek had his temporary steed fling him to the vessel. Catching the thief by surprise, the engineer managed to encase him with his Snare Vision and regained command of his ship. After wrapping a steel sheet around the traitor's eyes (which ensured that if he used his vision-power, he'd risk damaging himself with the splash-damage), he contemplated returning to his homeland. His first encounter with Noxit still had a mark on his mind, and he concluded that he could start afresh with the trove in his decks. His mind set, he left Zakaz behind and headed to Xia. There he enlisted his services to Cyst and Xercez, serving as chief engineer for Dywnale Foundries. Employment and Banishment One of his first assignments was creating a series of robotic bodyguards for Cyst's organization and its allies. He managed to build seven, dubbing them the Zatth Watch. Equipping Teleportation Kanoka disks into them, their owners had the ability to summon them whenever they pleased. Impressed with the results, Xercez had him work on an ambitious project of his; creating a mobile artillery cannon that could disintegrate all it touched. Gruek managed to construct it years later, testing it out on a nearby island. Although it only held Rahi on it, they and the flora were all wiped out. Pleased with the results, the Makuta planed on presenting the weapon to the military's leadership as a toke of friendship to them. A week later, the three of them standing before the Commander-In-Chief and his cabinet. Things were going swell until Xercez brought the engineer and assistant backstage to reveal his real plan; turning the government's Zatth Watch against them.The cannon's presentation was primarily meant to lure them in (though the Makuta had hoped to make use of it once they were dealt with). Though initially shocked by this development, Gruek followed his employer's commands to disrupt the bots' AI. The robots began opening fire on the cabinet and everyone else around them, teleporting at random as well. Once the assassination was carried out, Xercez destroyed the constructs and feigned anger at the situation, falsely promising to bring the supposed traitors to justice. One of the drones was lucky enough to evade his wrath, however, and managed to teleport itself into the cannon. The fusion between the two destabilized the weapon, causing it to explode. Though Gruek and Cyst were able to escape, Xercez was caught in the blast. Soon after, a hulking savage appeared before the surviving duo, claiming that Gruek had committed unforgivable crimes. As punishment for developing the weapon and playing a role in the cabinet's deaths, he was sentenced to The Pit. The he remained for millennia until the Great Cataclysm destroyed the facility. The mutagen from the Great Spirit Robot, however, mixed with the waters and flooded the prison, mutating the majority of the inmates. Gruek was among those unfortunate enough to be changed by it, and fled into the depths of the Black Waters. There he encountered Isenvokte, a despot who was also serving his sentence at The Pit. Taking note of his engineering skills, he recruited him into his newly-formed circle. His first task was repairing and reprogramming any Maxilos robots he could find, to patrol and protect their hideout. Once this was done, he spent the rest of the milliuem providing maintenance for them and the group's weapons. During this period, he lost his left hand to a mutated Rahi, and replaced it with a crude mechanical claw. After the Battle for the Kanohi Ignika, A mysterious Toa of Air approached their headquarters. He came into conflict with some of their Maxilos minions, but he managed to best them in battle. Entering the building and bowing before the leader of the gang, he claimed to be a recent addition to The Pit and was looking for the strongest faction to side with. Interested in him, Isenvokte allowed him to spend a few days at the fortress. Gruek spent that time repairing the fallen robots and regularly checking on the surviving ones until he lost contact with the latter. Gruek set out to investigate this, and was disturbed to see that they were somehow deactivated without any signs of battle. Before he could examine them any further, he was knocked out by an unknown party. When he came to, a set of bars were between him and Hydraxon. Shocked at the apparent revival of their warden, the jailer refused to answer his questions about it. Instead, he claimed that his employers were about to go to war with the Brotherhood of Makuta, and that he could be pardoned for his crimes if he partook in it. Reluctantly, he accepted. TBW In more recent times, A number of Tahnok fell from Spherus Magna's orbit. Intrigued by them, Gruek began examining them. Shadow7800's Continuity Gruek never liked his home, dirt filled and there was always constant warfare. So when he left he felt no regret. His race, the Graak, were always violent and war-torn. He had no problems, but he got bored. Gruek killed and slaughtered on his travels, landing on Karzahni only to find it devastated. He kept travelling and eventually landed on Aural, putting up a good fight before being subdued. When he was revived he agreed to serve Korzak and his minions. He became a jailer and punisher, dealing with traitors and guarding prisoners. Abilities and Traits Like most of his race, Gruek was violent and extremely temperamental. He has easily dealt with Toa before. He has made Toa give up before they even fought with his rage. Mask and Tools. TBW Appearances * TBW... Trivia * TBW... Category:Graak Category:Skakdi Category:Pit Prisoner